Martin Okelo Djetou (born 15 December 1974) is a French former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender.

Club career

Djetou was born in Brogohlo, in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. His clubs included

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location I ...

and

SC Schiltigheim Sporting Club de Schiltigheim is a French association football club from Schiltigheim, Alsace. It plays in Régional 1, the sixth tier of football in France. It plays at the Stade de l'Aar in Schiltigheim, which has a capacity of 2,500. The ...

. At Monaco he was part of the squad that won

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

in 1997 and 2000. Djetou made his name as a powerful defensive midfielder for Monaco, most notably dominating a Champions League quarter final against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in 1998. Following that game Djetou - who also played in defence - was linked with a host of top European clubs, but chose Parma as his next destination. Prior to his brief spell at Bolton, his only other experience in English football came by the way of a two-year loan spell at

where he amassed over half a century of appearances (and scored the winner against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in a 1–0 win in December 2002) but a permanent deal could not be agreed with Italian club Parma. In November 2006 he was awarded a trial at English club

but was not offered a permanent deal. After his spell with Bolton, he moved back to France, joining up with Istres. However, after some sluggish performances, he was released from his contract in 2006. In 2007, he stopped his professional career, started to play for SC Schiltigheim (amateur) and retired in summer 2008.

International career

The Ivorian-born Djetou won full international honours with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the country in which he grew up. He played on the French team at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He was in France's preliminary squad of 28 players for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

on home soil, but was one of six players dropped by head coach Aime Jacquet in the final cut prior to the start of the tournament. France went on to be victorious in the tournament and become national heroes.

Personal life

In 2007, Djetou opened a beauty parlour, in the town of Illkirch (Espace Djétou).

Honours

;Strasbourg *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

;Monaco *

: 1996–97 *

: 1999–2000 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

;Parma *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 2001–02

References

External links

Martin Djetou career profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Djetou, Martin 1974 births Living people Ivorian men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers French sportspeople of Ivorian descent France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers RC Strasbourg Alsace players AS Monaco FC players Parma Calcio 1913 players Fulham F.C. players OGC Nice players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Istres FC players Ivorian emigrants to France Ligue 1 players Serie A players Premier League players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for France French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Italy Men's association football defenders 20th-century French sportsmen